Fleeting Spirit is a retired, Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who was trained in the United Kingdom during a racing career which lasted from 2007 to 2010. She was a specialist sprinter, running all of her races over five and six furlongs. Fleeting Spirit was the highest-rated British-trained two-year-old filly of 2007 and went on to win the Group Two Temple Stakes at Haydock in 2008 and the Group One July Cup in 2009. In the last named year she was awarded the title of European Champion Sprinter at the Cartier Racing Awards.
Background
Fleeting Spirit, a "delightful little" bay mare with a small white star, was bred at Kilcullen, County Kildare, Ireland by Bernadette Hayden. The success of Fleeting Spirit led to Mrs Hayden being named as outstanding small breeder of 2007 by the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association. Fleeting Spirit's sire Invincible Spirit was a sprinter who won the Haydock Sprint Cup in 2002. He has gone on to be a "leading" sire, getting the winners of more than five hundred races including Moonlight Cloud, Lawman (Prix du Jockey Club), Hooray (Cheveley Park Stakes) and Vale of York (Breeders' Cup Juvenile).
Fleeting Spirit was sent as a yearling to the Goffs sales in September 2006 where she was bought for €35,000 by Con Marnane, a bloodstock agent who specialised in "pinhooking"– buying horses at auction and then selling them on at a profit. Seven months later, Marnane's investment paid off at the Tattersalls "breeze-up" sale where the filly was sold for 90,000gns to Anthony Stroud acting on behalf of "The Searchers", a five-member syndicate which included Andy Stewart and Paul Roy. She was trained throughout her career at Newmarket, Suffolk by Jeremy Noseda.
Racing career
2007: two-year-old season
Fleeting Spirit made her racecourse debut in a maiden race at Nottingham in June. Ridden by Frankie Dettori, she led from the start and was never headed, winning by two lengths. Fleeting Spirit was prevented from running at Royal Ascot after contracting an infection and Jeremy Noseda decided to wait for Glorious Goodwood where she was moved up to Group Three class to run against colts in the Molecomb Stakes. Fleeting Spirit tracked the leaders before moving up to dispute the lead with Kingsgate Native .The two horses raced together in the final furlong before Fleeting Spirit gained the advantage and prevailed by a neck.
The filly was moved up to six furlongs for her next start in the Lowther Stakes at York, but after leading at the two furlong mark she was caught in the closing stages and finished third behind Nahoodh and the subsequently disqualified Visit. Just over an hour after her defeat, the form of her Goodwood win was boosted when Kingsgate Native defeated a field of older sprinters to win the Nunthorpe Stakes.
In September, Fleeting Spirit returned to five furlongs and started 5/4 favourite for the Flying Childers Stakes at Doncaster. Dettori sent the filly into the lead a furlong out and she beat Spirit of Sharjah by one and three quarter lengths. The result confirmed her status as "one of the fastest juveniles in training" Among the unplaced horses was the colt Dark Angel, who won the Group One Middle Park Stakes on his next start. On her final start of the year Fleeting Spirit again attempted six furlongs in the Group One Cheveley Park Stakes. She failed by a neck to catch the front-running, French-trained Natagora, with the two fillies finishing four lengths clear of the rest of the field. Noseda was positive in defeat saying that it was "disappointing to get beat but she's run a huge race.
2008: three-year-old season
Instead of being aimed at the one mile 1000 Guineas, Fleeting Spirit was aimed at the top sprint races as a three-year-old. Noseda explained that "she is so fast and to try to get a mile is to destroy her natural asset". On her first start in May, she raced against colts and older horses in the Temple Stakes over five furlongs at Haydock Park. Ridden by Ryan Moore she broke from the stalls in a "sluggish" fashion and was behind in the early stages. Moore moved the filly up to challenge a furlong out and she quickened clear, winning by two lengths from Borderlescott who went on to win the next two runnings of the Nunthorpe Stakes. The winning time of 57.15 broke the track record by more than a second. Fleeting Spirit was then made 15/8 favourite for the Group One King's Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot in June. She again started slowly before producing a sustained late run to finish third, beaten half a length and a neck by Equiano and Takeover Target. Noseda later explained that Fleeting Spirit was a "sick" horse after the race, and that she never fully recovered in 2008.